Bantamweight (≤54 kilograms), Men

Even in his home country, Valerian Sokolov was a virtually unknown fighter prior to 1968, when he won the Soviet bantamweight title to qualify for the Olympics. In Mexico City he had only one close fight, that in the first round when he narrowly defeated Ecuador’s Rafael Anchundia, 3-2. He won his next four bouts by two TKOs and two unanimous decisions, defeating Uganda’s Eridadi Mukwanga in the final, when the referee stopped the fight at 2:15 of the second round. Sokolov never again won a major international, although he would repeat as Soviet Champion in 1969, 1971, and 1973, retiring after 1975 with a career amateur record of 196 wins in 216 fights. Mukwanga was the first silver medalist from Uganda at the Olympics, in any sport. He fought in the 1970 Commonwealth Games, where Ugandan fighters starred, but Mukwanga went out in the first round, and never turned professional. He later became an alcoholic and died in January 1998 under murky circumstances.